STARKVILLE,
Miss. - The sequel begins for Mississippi State softball Head Coach Vann
Stuedeman Thursday as she begins her second year at the helm of the Bulldog
softball program starting with the season opener at 6 p.m. vs. South Alabama at
the MSU Softball Stadium. The game is the first of 14 from Thursday through
Sunday as part the 2013 MSU Bulldog Kickoff Classic, which also features
Georgia State, SIU-Edwardsville, Tennessee State and Troy.

Admission
is free for those that can attend, but for those that cannot, live video and
audio streaming of the MSU games will be available online to HailStateTV
subscribers (www.HailState.com/hstvlive).

The Bulldogs play Troy
Friday at 6:30 p.m., Tennessee State Saturday at 3:30 p.m., Georgia State
immediately following their game vs. TSU and wrap it up with a rematch vs. USA
on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. The Maroon and White are a combined 16-2 all-time vs.
teams in the tournament, including a 10-1 record at home.

After the winningest first
year by a head coach in school history in 2012 (33-24, .579), Stuedeman begins
the 21st season of MSU softball looking to continue her non-conference
dominance. The dugout general closed 2012 having won 13 of her last 15 games
outside of the SEC, while owning a perfect 8-0 overall record in mid-week
non-conference showdowns.

Thursday
features a contest pitting two NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago on the
same diamond. This season, Mississippi State received nine votes in the
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Preseason Top-25 Poll and two votes in the USA
Today/NFCA Division I Top-25 Preseason Poll. South Alabama also received votes
as well.

In last year's season
opener at USA on Feb. 9, 2012, the Jaguars were one strike away from a 2-1
victory in the top of the seventh before MSU designated player Brittany Bell
hit a grand slam to give the Maroon and White a 5-2 lead in an eventual 7-2
victory.

In addition, the Maroon
and White will debut transfers Alison Owen, Julia Echols and Logan Foulks this
weekend. Owen has pitched in the Women's College World Series while at Georgia,
Echols brings a wealth of SEC experience having been Owen's teammate at Georgia
and Foulks comes to Starkville after finishing second in the ACC last year in
slugging percentage at North Carolina.

General In-Game
Promotions:Foul Ball Frenzy - Receive a FREE Coupon When You
Return a Foul Ball to the Marketing TableBring 'em Homers - MSU Softball T-Shirts will Be Thrown into
the Stands for Number of Runs ScoredLoad the Bases - One Lucky Fan will Receive a FREE Coupon for
a Local Starkville BusinessGrand Slam! - Four MSU Softball T-Shirts will be Thrown into
the StandsMSU Double Play - Double Bubble Gum will be Thrown into the
StandsMSU Hits a Double - One Lucky Fan will Receive a FREE Coupon
for a Local Starkville BusinessMSU Strikes-Out Opponent - One Lucky Fan will Receive a FREE
MSU Softball TShirt

Inning-By-Inning
Promotions:Bottom of 1st - Lead off Hit - One Lucky
Fan will Receive a FREE Coupon for a Local Starkville Business
Top of 2nd - Sit 'em Down 1, 2, 3 - One Lucky Fan
will Receive a FREE Coupon for a Local Starkville Business
Top of 3rd - Movie Trivia - One Lucky Fan will Receive TWO
FREE Movie Tickets for Correctly Answering the Movie Trivia
Bottom of 4th - Chicken Dance! - One Lucky Fan will
Receive a FREE Coupon for a Local Starkville Business
Top of 5th - Name That Tune - One Lucky Fan will
Receive a $5 iTunes Giftcard for Correctly Naming the Song Being Played
Bottom of 6th - Take the Plate with the Bulldogs - One
Lucky Fan will Receive 1, 2 or 3 FREE Coupons for a Local Starkville Business
Based on the Hit (Single, Double or Triple)
Top of 7th - Player Trivia - One Lucky Fan will
Receive a FREE Coupon for a Local Starkville Business for Correctly Answering
the Player Trivia Question